Dumb Question

[MLPTroll074]

I only have experience making homemade wine and I am planning my first wash, a TPW. When making wine after the primary fermentation I rack the wine off the lees and start the secondary fermentation and rack the wine when it needs it. Do you rack washes off the lees before moving it to the still?


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[HDNB]

i don't, but i use a steam jacket. are you using propane or internal electric? then you may want to...to avoid burning and scorching the lees in the boiler.

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[BDF]

The answer is, it depends. It never has to get clear enough to bottle as you would a wine, but you can definitely still something opaque, as long as its finished fermenting. The thing to try and avoid is to run something gloppy enough or with large enough bits in it that it could cake up on electrical elements or boiler walls and scortch/burn. You don't want grain husks or left over fruit skins in your still (unless you have some kind of double-wall-boiler setup going).

If you let the lees settle off your wash you can likely siphon it directly into the boiler from the primary as long as you don;t pick up the lees too much. The standards really are quite different from wine making/home brewing.

That being said, some people do rack to a secondary to allow for further clarification, but that is more for a personal preference of flavor refinement due to personal preference, but it is far from necessary or required.

[bilgriss]

I personally like to give a ferment enough time to settle. By that, I don't mean time enough to clear, but just time enough when fermentation is done that the largest percentage of yeast has time to fall out of suspension. It is, as BDF says, personal preference. Depending on your equipment and regimen, you may develop a different opinion. The most important thing is that the fermentation is complete. I personally use an electric element, and by making sure I am patient and don't leave residual sugars, I have managed to avoid any scorching problems thus far. YMMV

[DSM Loki]

When I first started, coming from more of a wine/cider background I would rack off the lees, and sometimes rack into a tertiary fermenter for clarification. Now however, I just wait a day or two after fermentation finishes to let most of the yeast and sediment to fall out of suspension then pump it into the boiler and go.

There's nothing to lose by going for more clarification if that's the route you would prefer.

[RedwoodHillBilly]

When I first started, coming from more of a wine/cider background I would rack off the lees, and sometimes rack into a tertiary fermenter for clarification. Now however, I just wait a day or two after fermentation finishes to let most of the yeast and sediment to fall out of suspension then pump it into the boiler and go.

There's nothing to lose by going for more clarification if that's the route you would prefer.

+1 Same here

[still_stirrin]

...There's nothing to lose by going for more clarification if that's the route you would prefer.

+1.

MLPTroll074,
Plus, once you have a cellar full of liquor, a few extra days in the fermenter, or the secondary fermenter won't be much of a concern. Bigger things to worry about.
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